Norris takes Interlagos Pole, Verstappen out in Q2

Lando Norris has taken pole position in the most dramatic qualifying session this season at Interlagos, where his championship rival Max Verstappen qualified 12th.

The session began at 7.30 am local time on Sunday, after it was postponed due to the rainfall on Saturday. The reduced rain on Sunday morning allowed qualifying to go ahead, but the conditions caught out many drivers.

Source: Mark Thompson/Getty Images

There was a record equalling five red flags for a qualifying session, as Franco Colapinto, Alex Albon (both Williams), Fernando Alonso, Lance Stroll (both Aston Martin), and Carlos Sainz (Ferrari) all crashed. Those teams, particularly Williams and Aston Martin, face a enormous task to repair their cars in time for the race.

Those delays caused the session to run for nearly two hours, a timeline that could have massive effects on the championship battle. After almost getting knocked out in Q1, Lando Norris put his car on pole ahead of George Russell (2nd) and Yuki Tsunoda (3rd). His teammate Oscar Piastri only managed 8th in Q3.

Several big names didn’t even make it to Q3. Both Red Bulls were caught out by a red flag brought out by Lance Stroll in Q2 that knocked them out. Verstappen only qualified 12th, with a 5-place grid penalty for an engine change to worsen his grid position even further.

Source: Andrew Ferraro/Getty Images

Lewis Hamilton struggled with his car and tyre pressures, being two seconds off his teammate, and qualified 16th. Sainz also failed to make the top 10 after his crash (last).

This was the most unpredictable qualifying session of the season and makes up the most mixed-up grid, with many cars out of position. This makes it an unpredictable race, but Norris has to be the heavy favourite, being the only driver out of the top 3 teams, towards the front of the grid.

It will make it a race full of overtakes as out-of-position cars recover, mixed in with the forecast for more rain, which will likely see safety cars and red flags.

The race will start at 12.30 am local time (3.30 pm UK time), 90 minutes earlier than scheduled, in the hope that it will increase the likelihood of a full race taking place because of concerns around rain delays and limited daylight hours.

Update: Albon will not start the race due to the damage from his crash.

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